And, if it doesn’t hit, the jackpot could soon be well on its way to growing to match the size of the largest-ever win, a cool $580 million prize split by two players in November.

That’s life-changing money even after taxes. As NBC noted at the time, at the height of the November frenzy, Powerball tickets were being sold at a rate of as much as 130,000 a minute throughout the nation.

Since the beginning of the year, $200 million jackpots have been hitting at a record-setting pace. That’s because the price of the ticket doubled from $1 to $2, allowing Powerball officials to grow a much larger pot.

And, the larger the pot grows, the more people want to buy in to chase the larger pot. And the pot grows even larger. That’s why some people are saying that if the Powerball doesn’t hit tonight, we could soon see a jackpot in excess of $600 million. Can a billion dollar jackpot be far behind?

Want to increase your odds? Well, guess what. I do too. As a former professional gambler for a blackjack team, I always like to look around for an edge.

Alas, I have bad news. I haven’t been able to identify any good way to increase your chances — probably why I’m writing this article instead of out strategically purchasing tickets.

In an honest lottery, there’s nothing you can do to increase your odds. You’ve got to get lucky.

Good luck tonight to all players trying for today’s Powerball Jackpot.